CDC urges to urgently change the existing regimen for treating gonorrhea
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) calls for an urgent change in the existing regimen for treating gonorrhea in order to prevent the formation of complete gonococcal resistance to the last effective antibiotic.
According to the latest published recommendations of the CDC, it is necessary to immediately stop using the oral version of ceftriaxone, one of the two drugs recommended earlier for the treatment of gonorrhea. Instead, doctors should switch to injection of ceftriaxone in combination with either azithromycin or doxycycline.
"Only an emergency change in treatment regimen will help us avoid the loss of an effective agent such as ceftriaxone," CDC expert Robert Kirkcaldy writes. "This is indeed the last drug we have in the arsenal against the fight against gonorrhea, but the resistance of the gonococcus to it is growing rapidly. We expect that the combination of its injection form with two other antibiotics will slow the formation of resistance. "
According to Mr. Kirkkaldi, the withdrawal of oral forms of ceftriaxone is very difficult, since pills were the only acceptable way to treat gonorrhea in developing countries, where access to syringes and doctors who can inject is extremely limited. However, experts have to take such extreme measures. According to the latest study involving 6,000 patients with gonorrhea in the United States, the resistance of gonococcus to cefixime and ceftriaxone is constantly increasing. The number of N.gonorrhoeae strains resistant to cefixime increased from 0.1 to 1.5 percent between 2006 and 2011, and to ceftriaxone from 0 to 0.4 percent.
The recommendations of the CDC also call for pharmaceutical companies to expedite the search for new effective antibiotics. By 2020, no less than 10 new antibacterial drugs should be created. Experts also call on the population to take more responsibility for their health, reduce the number of sexual partners and constantly use condoms.
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